Introduction

When Holmes first met Dr. Watson, his soon to be partner in solving crimes, the detective deduced his personal history from his appearance.

Holmes sees his new acquaintance's symptoms of tropics, sickness, and injury, and is able to see how they fit together and offhand claim: "You have bee...

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most well-known literary characters, and while “Elementary, my dear Watson” is his most famous piece of dialogue, this specific phrase was not written by Arthur Conan Doyle, nor is it featured in any of the books.

It is important to both see and to observe. As Holmes told Dr Watson: “You see, but you do not observe,”

This mental alertness, or mindfulness, is cultivated with deliberate practise. Mindfulness allows Holmes to observe those details that most of us don’t even realize we don’...